Notes for an address at the
American Council for Quebec Studies

Quebec City, Quebec

October 19, 1996

The American Council for Quebec Studies held its first Congress here in Quebec City in 1986; it was attended by 80 people. Here we are ten years later, with more than 300 participants and nearly 200 presentations on the various socio-cultural aspects of Quebec life: history, literature and poetry, theatre and cinema, economics and administration, the media, and, of course, politics.

I greatly envy your ability to look at Quebec from the outside, because our society must seem quite fascinating! I would like to thank your president, Richard Beach, for inviting me to take part in this "cultural immersion".

As I am speaking, Michel Tremblay's play Les belles-soeurs is playing in Romania; Céline Dion is performing in the Netherlands; the Ballets Jazz de Montréal is touring Germany; the Cirque du Soleil is putting on Alegria in Japan and premiering Quidam in the United States; the Carbone 14 dance company is giving a series of performances in Belgium; and the modern dance troupe La La La Human Steps is touring the United Kingdom. Quebec's artistic community has never had such international exposure, not to mention the whole intercultural dynamic it has developed within Canada in recent decades. Whether you are in Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver, you can enjoy the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a production by Robert Lepage or Denys Arcand, or a concert by the Aboriginal group Kashtin.

Music, painting, theatre, literature...if I had the time, I would describe how far Quebec creativity is making its influence felt in every sphere of human activity, including our politics, which -- as you know -- traditionally produces some of the liveliest Canadian political personalities.

I would like to suggest today that this Quebec creativity is stimulated by its belonging to Canada and that, in return, Canada is enriched by the contribution of Quebec society. I want to show that Quebecers and other Canadians have every reason to stay together.

Attachment to the Quebec and Canadian identities

I am speaking to you as both a Quebecer and a Canadian who is very attached to both his identities and never wants to have to choose between them. I know that the vast majority of Quebecers feel the same. A poll conducted last February (1) showed that 21% of Quebecers appear to define themselves as Quebecers only, but that the rest, who represent the vast majority, identify themselves as Quebecers and Canadians, striking their own balance between those two identities. I confess that if it were the other way around, if 79% of Quebecers said that they didn't identify themselves as Canadians any more, I would be worried. But the fact is that Quebecers want to stay Canadian, and they are right to feel attached to Canada, since they have contributed a great deal to building it.

Nevertheless, many Quebecers who are attached to their Canadian identity responded in the affirmative to the question put to them by the Government of Quebec, on October 30, 1995, namely:

"Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?"

Quebecers rejected, by a majority of 50.6%, the option that the secessionist leaders had put forward for the second time in 15 years. Quebec and all of Canada came very close to being plunged into a crisis whose outcome would have been very uncertain.

Many Quebecers who are attached to Canada voted as the secessionist leaders wanted in the referendum because they didn't think that they were voting for secession. They wanted to affirm their Quebec identity, but did not think that they would have to give up their Canadian identity. That did not stop the leader of the secessionist forces, the then Premier of Quebec, calling their vote, on the night of his defeat, an endorsement for Quebec "independence", a term he'd never used during the referendum campaign! A poll conducted at the very end of the referendum campaign (2) showed that close to 80% of Quebecers who were planning to vote YES believed that, if the YES side won, Quebec would automatically continue its use of the Canadian dollar; 80% felt that Quebec's economic ties with Canada would remain unchanged; and 50% believed they would continue to use a Canadian passport. More than 25% believed that Quebec would continue to elect federal members of Parliament. Another poll (3) showed that almost one in five YES voters thought that a sovereign Quebec could remain a province of Canada.

Those who remind the secessionist leadership of these figures are accused of insulting the intelligence of Quebec voters, which is far from the truth. It's obviously not the voters' fault if the secessionists' strategy spreads confusion.

Secession is too grave a decision to be taken in confusion. Therefore one can understand why Canada's Prime Minister, in the February 27 Speech from the Throne, made a solemn commitment to see that what is at stake, secession, be made as clear as possible.

Those Quebecers who support secession must understand that this plan means they would lose their Canadian identity. They must find good reasons for giving it up. They must find even better reasons for uprooting the Canadian identity from the hearts of the many Quebecers who are attached to it. They must also think about the harm they would do to their fellow citizens from the other Canadian provinces. They must also realize that secession, once achieved, would likely be irreversible and therefore would affect not only their contemporaries, but future generations as well.

There is simply no valid reason to make such a grave decision. That is why we are very confident that Canada will remain united. The Government of Canada is demonstrating with more determination than ever before, in cooperation with all those citizens who believe in their country, in particular the Quebec federalist forces, to what extent the Quebec identity and the Canadian identity complement one another and why one should welcome them both rather than feel obliged to choose between the two. The threat of secession will then be averted and Quebecers, along with all other Canadians, will have found the road to reconciliation and unity.

When examined closely, none of the arguments that are brought forward in support of secession hold water, whether they be at the level of language and culture, that of political structure or that of the economy.

A bilingual federation united by shared universal values

Secession is tempting only among Francophone Quebec voters. The approximately 15% of non-Francophone voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for Canadian unity, seeing no reason to choose between Quebec and Canada. Francophones must be shown that Canada in no way threatens their language and culture, but rather the contrary. The fact is that since the beginning of Confederation, in 1867, Quebec has never been as Francophone as it is today. The proportion of Quebecers capable of expressing themselves in French has reached the unprecedented level of 94%. In my Montreal constituency, while I must often speak in English to senior citizens of Greek, Italian or Jewish origins, their grandchildren automatically speak to me in French.

The advancement of French in Quebec is due in part to Canadian and Quebec language laws implemented in the 1960s and 1970s. These laws are now largely accepted, and, while some measures provided for in the Quebec legislation were struck down by the courts, none of them was of major importance. The issue of commercial signage is a case in point. In 1977, Quebec legislation imposed French-only commercial signage. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a policy of French predominance was completely justified in this area, but that other languages could not be banned. That is the policy that now prevails in Quebec, and on which there is a consensus, with the support of more than 85% of Quebecers, according to public opinion. (4)

Quebec's language laws are more liberal than those in such irreproachable multilingual democracies as Switzerland or Belgium. Radical elements sometimes try to reignite linguistic tensions in Quebec, but they always fail. The solidarity between Quebec's Francophones and non-Francophones is admirable. Indeed, there is only one issue that can divide them along linguistic and ethnic lines: the issue of secession.

The solidarity displayed by Canada's other provinces and territories with regard to bilingualism and Quebecers' linguistic and cultural distinctiveness is also solid. A majority of Quebecers and other Canadians support bilingualism. The failure of constitutional reforms in recent years, which aimed, among other things, to have Quebec recognized as a distinct society within the federation, unfortunately created an utterly deplorable feeling of mutual rejection among too many Quebecers and other Canadians.

The truth is that the vast majority of Canadians want to recognize and celebrate as a fundamental characteristic of their country the fact that one of Canada's ten provinces, the second largest, has a Francophone majority, in an overwhelmingly anglophone North America.

Thus, a poll in March 1996 (5) showed that 85% of Quebecers and 68% of other Canadians believed that "the Canadian constitution should recognize that Quebec, while equal to the other provinces, is different, particularly due to its French language and culture." As well, 82% of Quebecers and 84% of other Canadians felt that "Quebec is an essential component of the Canadian identity". The vast majority of my fellow citizens in the other provinces want to recognize Quebec's difference, and simply want some help in finding the words to express the support they have for their fellow citizens in Quebec.

In December 1995, the Government of Canada had a resolution passed in the House of Commons recognizing the distinctiveness of Quebec society, and an Act guaranteeing Quebec, and the four other major regions of Canada, that no constitutional change concerning them would be made without their agreement. The Prime Minister and the Government of Canada are continuing their efforts to see those measures entrenched in the Constitution.

The terrible misunderstanding surrounding recognition of Quebec's distinctiveness has convinced too many Quebecers and other Canadians that their values are incompatible. That belief is false. In fact, the very opposite is true. The main reason I am so attached to Quebec society is that it is completely imbued with the great universal values that make me love Canada. As a political scientist, I have always been struck by how much Quebecers and other Canadians strongly support the great universal values of tolerance, solidarity and justice. To cite one example among many, a poll this April (6) revealed that 74% of Canadians outside Quebec and 71% of Quebecers believed that "cultural diversity makes Canada stronger."

An international survey (7) comparing 118 cities in the world on the basis of 42 economic, social and environmental indicators ranked Montreal among the front runners (in 7th place), together with Vancouver (2nd), Toronto (4th) and Calgary (12th). Our large urban centres have their difficulties, their problems of unemployment and poverty, and face major challenges.

Nevertheless, they have succeeded in becoming models of cultural co-existence, and they provide their inhabitants with a level of security and a quality of life that are difficult to find elsewhere. This is one more reason why Montreal and Vancouver should stay together, in a united Canada, being so close in spirit despite the geographical distance that separates them.

Those universal values of tolerance and solidarity in diversity have taken root in Canada in large part because French and English people have had to learn to live together, which has prepared them to welcome new fellow citizens from all corners of the globe. Our history has not always been easy, and, like other countries, has its darker chapters. The result, however, is the Canada of today, an admirable human creation. Quebecers and other Canadians have built it together, which is why they will not give it up. A decentralized, evolving federation

Canadians' spirit of tolerance has led them to understand, perhaps better than any other people, that equality is not synonymous with uniformity. It is that understanding that has guided them in putting in place a decentralized federation that is always striving for a balance between solidarity among all and respect for the differences of each.

Canada would never have been able to survive if it had not been a federation that ensures that Newfoundlanders can be Canadian the Newfoundland way, Manitobans can be Canadian in their way, and Quebecers can be Canadian the Quebec way.

The secessionist leaders claim that Canada is a centralized federation that leaves Quebec too little autonomy. They say our federation is rigid and incapable of evolving, and describe the federal government as a sort of foreign power in relation to Quebecers.

The truth is that one of our greatest strengths is precisely that our federation is based on decentralization. Experts in comparative federalism rank it among the most decentralized, alongside Switzerland. As a Canadian province, Quebec enjoys an enviable level of autonomy compared with the components of other federations. The flexibility of Canadian federalism has also meant that Quebec is differentiated from the other provinces through specific provisions in a variety of areas, including civil law, taxation, international relations, the pension plan, social policy, postsecondary education, and immigration.

Far from being rigid and immobile, our federation is constantly evolving, and that has not led to a bloated federal government. On the contrary, in the past four decades, we have seen a gradual and remarkable redistribution of the federal government's taxing and spending power to the provincial governments. For example, in 1950, the federal government collected $2.46 for every dollar of revenue collected by the provinces; in 1994, it collected only $0.96.

Today, faced with a danger that threatens our unity, we need more than ever to show Quebecers and all Canadians just how well their federation can serve them. We need a federal government that is more effective in its areas of jurisdiction, provincial and territorial governments more effective in theirs, Aboriginal administrations better-equipped to serve their populations, and a solid partnership uniting all of those institutions. That objective is broadly shared in Canada, which is why the federal government launched a vigorous plan to reform the federation in its Speech from the Throne in February. This reform aims to clarify roles in sectors as varied as mining, forestry, recreation, the environment, social housing and the economic union. I will limit myself to describing briefly three key reforms: the federal spending power, labour-market training and the social union, issues which you Americans are also facing.

Concerning the federal spending power, the federal government made a commitment in the last Throne Speech to no longer use its spending power to create new shared cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction without the consent of a majority of the provinces. In so doing, we have taken a major step toward making federal-provincial relations more harmonious and consensus-driven. This commitment to limit the federal spending power has no equivalent in other federations; it responds to an historic grievance on the part of our provinces to the effect that the federal government has used its revenues to intervene too directly in their affairs, thus forcing them to change their priorities to satisfy the federal government.

As for labour-market training, the Government of Canada is launching a reform that gives the provinces greater autonomy in the area of job training and labour-market development, a public policy area that is very important in the new global economy, by giving them the opportunity to manage for themselves the approximately $2 billion a year the federal government currently spends on active employment assistance measures. The first agreements should be concluded shortly.

Finally, the Canadian social union is also changing. Financial transfers from the federal government to the provinces in the area of health and social programs now give the provinces greater flexibility in setting priorities and designing programs to meet local needs, while respecting the principles on which Canada's extensive solidarity is based. The Prime Minister and provincial premiers have formed a new federal-provincial council on renewing social policy, to study the implementation of more consensus-driven and efficient mechanisms, and examine more closely problems connected with child poverty.

It is noteworthy that these major reforms are being initiated with a strong Quebec presence in Ottawa. The Prime Minister is a Quebecer, as has been the case for 26 of the past 28 years. The Minister of Finance is currently a Quebecer, as is the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Human Resources and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court also happens to be a Quebecer, as is the country's most senior civil servant. Canada's ambassador to the United States is a Quebecer.

People belong to a federation not only because of what they can get out of it, but also to contribute their culture and their talents. Quebec men and women are contributing to the success and the evolution of the Canadian federation, and we must not lose the synergy they create through contact with their fellow citizens in the other provinces.

Canada's economic success

Secessionist leaders see justifications for their plans in every difficulty the Canadian economy experiences. Canada is going bankrupt, they said several years ago, looking at the heavy indebtedness of our federation. But Canadian institutions proved that they could handle these difficulties. In fact, Canada has got its finances in order to the point where its deficit next year will be one of the lowest in the OECD. Furthermore, seven out of ten provinces have balanced their budgets, or are recording surpluses, even though they were all in a deficit position a few years ago. Short term interest rates in Canada have dropped more than four-and-a-half points since the beginning of last year. The year prior to our government taking office Canada had, on a borrowing rates basis, the worst record of any G-7 country, with the exception of Italy. In 1997, according to the same criteria, Canada will have the best record in the G-7. In its recently released World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicts that Canada will outgrow all the other G-7 countries in 1997.

Therefore, the secessionist leaders have changed their target. In the October 1995 referendum, they claimed that English Canada had embraced a conservative culture incompatible with the Quebec values of social justice and compassion. They promised that a YES vote would be a shelter against the cold wind of budget cuts blowing in from English Canada, and a lever for a new spirit of Quebec social democracy.

The federal government and the majority of the provinces have cleaned up their public finances, regardless of the political stripe of their governments. The same clean-up is now the order of the day for Quebec, one of the most indebted provinces in Canada. Because it is also less wealthy than the Canadian average, it receives assistance from the wealthier provinces. Canadian solidarity is expressed admirably in the principle of mutual assistance among wealthier and less wealthy provinces, through federal government transfers. That principle, which is likely carried further in Canada than in any other federation in the world, means that there are currently seven provinces that receive assistance from what are now the three wealthiest provinces: Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

In the 1930s, however, Alberta received assistance from the other provinces, including mine. That is what makes Canadian solidarity so great. Quebecers are currently benefiting from the assistance of their fellow citizens in the wealthier provinces, and will one day be able in turn to give special assistance to their fellow citizens in the less wealthy provinces.

For a number of months, the Government of Quebec has been following the lead of the other provinces in undertaking a courageous plan to put its fiscal house in order. We can look forward optimistically to the future, thanks to the resources of Quebec's economy, Quebecers' unique culture, cooperation among governments and solidarity among all Canadians. For example, the federal government has increased its support for Quebec business firms and public servants following the closure of the Quebec delegation offices in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. The federal government is also the government of Quebecers, but it is, in a way, also the government for American researchers, like most of you here today! The Canadian Embassy in Washington and our consulates across the United States are also at your service. The Government of Quebec can succeed in putting its fiscal house in order despite the costs of political uncertainty linked to its senseless plans for secession.

I am against secession not because I think Quebecers are incapable of managing their own independent state. I believe that we, Quebecers, are called to a greater ideal: that of continuing to improve the superb economic and social success that is Canada; that of fighting alongside our fellow citizens against the scourges of unemployment and poverty; that of continuing to ensure that comparisons by international bodies such as the UN or the World Bank continue to rank Quebecers so highly in so many areas of human activity.

The solidarity that unites Quebecers is exemplary, it is a strength that makes them greater and nurtures confidence in their economic and social future. And yet, their solidarity is complemented no less admirably by that which links them to their fellow citizens in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Western Canada and the North. Quebec and Canadian solidarity complement each other wonderfully, and it would be not only an economic absurdity, but, in particular, a moral error, not to keep both of them for ourselves and for our children. We need to take on the formidable challenges of the 21st century together.

Conclusion

Our country deserves to survive, and its chances of succeeding are excellent. Quebecers and other Canadians will stay together because we have achieved something irreplaceable in the world. We can be proud of our linguistic and cultural harmony, our economic success and the uniqueness of our institutions. We must improve our federation, and our government has launched major initiatives to that end. We can recognize, in complete confidence, Quebec's distinctiveness as a fundamental characteristic of our country.

That is what I believe I have shown you here today. I have done so by highlighting Canada's advantages, rather than the risks of secession. I have said almost nothing of the score of uncertainties, the clash of legitimacies, the economic and social upheaval, and the host of difficult negotiations we would be faced with if we undertook to choose among our fellow citizens rather than all staying together within Canada. I have not yet mentioned the important bone of contention between us regarding the legality or illegality of a unilateral declaration of independence and the request for clarification to that effect that has been addressed to the Supreme Court.

I will say about secession simply that it must not be seen as an opposition between Quebec and Canada, which would form two monolithic blocs. I am opposed to secession and want to fight against it with all the strengths democracy gives me because it would tear apart first and foremost my society, because it would pit Quebecers against Quebecers. Secession, with the uncertainties it generates, is the type of issue that can plunge the most tolerant populations into intolerance.

Secession is defined as a break in solidarity among fellow citizens. That is why, in its wisdom, international law extends to peoples the right of self-determination in its extreme form, that is the right to secede, only in situations where a break in solidarity is evident, such as in cases of military occupation or colonial exploitation. The secessions that have taken place to date have always arisen out of decolonization or the troubled times that follow the end of authoritarian regimes. It is not simply a matter of chance that no well established democracy that has experienced ten years of universal suffrage has ever faced secession. Such a break in solidarity appears very hard to justify in a democracy.

Canada, a universal model of openness, tolerance and generosity, is the last country in the world where identity-based fragmentation should be allowed to triumph. You Americans understand that instinctively. That is why you prefer that Canada remain united, while taking great pains not to interfere in Canadians' affairs. Your preference for Canadian unity is, of course, not due only to your economic interest. You, who have the heaviest international responsibilities, fear that the possible break-up of this great bilingual and multicultural federation would set a bad example for the rest of the world, at a time when identity-based tensions are raging in so many corners of the globe.

According to Professor Elazar of Temple University in Philadelphia, there are currently some 3,000 human groups who are conscious of a collective identity. And yet, there are currently only 185 states recognized in the UN, 86% of which are multiethnic in composition. The belief that any population with its own distinctive characteristics must have its own state is completely false. I do not want to see that belief triumph in my country. It is not only impractical, but also a moral error, because by learning to have their component cultures live together, states give their populations the opportunity of elevating themselves. By allowing them to experience tolerance, the cohabitation of cultures within the same state helps human beings to become better citizens.

Trying to ensure that everyone is part of a majority wherever he or she lives would be pointless and even destructive. We need to seek the means by which confident, flourishing minorities and cultures can live together within a single political structure. The presence and influence of the Quebec minority within Canada strengthens not only Canadians in the other provinces, but also Quebecers themselves, through the complementarity of their Quebec and Canadian identities.

Quebecers and other Canadians do not have the right to fail. They must move closer to one another and achieve reconciliation. They must succeed not only for themselves and for their children, but also -- and why not? -- for the other inhabitants of this poor planet, who see in Canada a source of hope and a country that has been blessed by fortune. President Truman said just that when he cited the Canadian experience as an example for all the peoples of the world:

"Canada's eminent position today is a tribute to the patience, tolerance and strength of character of her people. Canada's notable achievement of national unity and progress through accommodation, moderation, and forbearance can be studied with profit by sister nations."

And, without wanting in any way to get involved in the American presidential campaign, I would like to conclude with a quotation from President Clinton, which I feel sums up the essence of what I wanted to say to you today:

"In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that literally tear nations apart, Canada has stood for all of us as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity and understanding. Canada has shown the world how to balance freedom with compassion."

(1) CROP, February 1996 (2) Léger & Léger, October 1995 (3) Créatec +, October 1995 (4) CROP, May 1996 (5) Environics (6) Ekos, April 1996 (7) Corporate Resources Group, January 1995

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